COTTONWOOD - Within days, the Arizona Legislature will take $144 million away from schools' soft capital budgets. Cottonwood-Oak Creek, Mingus Union High School and Clarkdale-Jerome districts will all survive these cuts. For the most part, the soft capital cuts won't have much impact on education for area students. These districts were expecting this first round of budget cuts.
But the next round of cuts expected to come after the first of the year, likely will have what Mingus Superintendent Tim Foist calls a "bodies and benefits impact."
The coming cut to soft capital of $144 million was originally in the Legislature's budget, but Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed it. However, local school administrations and governing boards did not trust the Legislature to let them keep the money.
"The soft cap cut was planned for when we built the budget so there is no impact at this time," Foist said.
The same caution prevailed at C-OC. "We anticipated that the Legislature would come back in session and reinstate the soft capital reduction," CO-C Superintendent Barbara U'Ren said. "The affected funds were set aside and not budgeted, so the reduction should have minimal effect on our students."
U'Ren said her district curtailed soft capital spending in January of last year. "So we were able to carry forward about $200,000 into FY 09/10 to lessen the impact of the reductions to the soft capital budget."
Right now it looks like the Legislature will take less soft capital - about half as much - from K-8 school districts with fewer than 600 students.
Clarkdale-Jerome Superintendent Kathleen Fleenor thinks that will help her K-8 school. "Looks like we will get a little slack this first round," she said, "but I think the big hit will come after the first of the year."
Fleenor said her school has stopped ordering any instructional aids, which are workbooks that go with textbooks. She said the primary grades use those workbooks as a follow up after the instruction from the textbooks, such as reading and science.
"We are not replacing any worn out furniture," Fleenor said. She said the district has not ordered any new textbooks.
Clarkdale-Jerome School also has put a hold on any new technology supplies, ordering only what are needed to make temporary repairs.
U'Ren said the soft capital cuts will not endanger the district's programs recently protected by passage of an extension to the budget override. "All of the override programs are funded from the maintenance and operation fund," she said.
Foist thinks those programs are safe until the Legislature takes deeper cuts after the first of the year. "If the cuts directed from the Legislature take our 2 percent growth and also go into the M/O, everything will be impacted," he said.
"The rule there is to save core subjects and offer as many extra programs as we can," Foist said. "But core subjects must be saved."
Foist thinks the district's growth in attendance and the addition of The Academy at Mingus will help the high school weather the coming budget storm. He said that with the growth, along with savings from retirements and attrition, the district might be ahead of the cuts.
He said the next round of cuts will be difficult. "We are already talking and discussing options from more shared services between county or valley schools," Foist said.
Another option for MUHS is going away from a block period and back to traditional 58- or 55-minute classes. That, according to Foist, would allow the school to have more subject offerings.
Fleenor says it is important for the public to understand that educational funding is much different from business funding. Funds in a school district are not lumped into one big pot.
"Each category is separated," Fleenor said, "and districts currently cannot pull from one fund to help another fund.
"Hopefully, the Legislature will allow districts that latitude."
